Bill Text: MI SB0006 | 2015-2016 | 98th Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Property tax; exemptions; exemption for disabled veterans; include joint tenancy. Amends sec. 7b of 1893 PA 206 (MCL 211.7b).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-12-16 - Referred To Committee On Tax Policy [SB0006 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2015-SB0006-Engrossed.html

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SB-0006, As Passed Senate, December 15, 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUBSTITUTE FOR

 

SENATE BILL NO. 6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1893 PA 206, entitled

 

"The general property tax act,"

 

by amending section 7b (MCL 211.7b), as amended by 2013 PA 161.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 7b. (1) Real Subject to subsections (2) to (4),

 

residential real property or agricultural real property used and

 

owned as a homestead by a any of the following individuals is

 

exempt from the collection of taxes under this act:

 

     (a) A disabled veteran who was discharged from the armed

 

forces of the United States under honorable conditions. or by an

 

individual described in subsection (2) is exempt from the

 

collection of taxes under this act. To obtain the exemption,

 

     (b) For as long as he or she remains unremarried, the

 

unremarried surviving spouse of a disabled veteran who, immediately

 

before death, was eligible for the exemption under this section.

 

     (c) For as long as he or she remains unremarried, the

 

unremarried surviving spouse of a deceased Michigan veteran who

 

died from service-connected causes while on active duty in the

 

armed forces of the United States.

 

     (2) To claim an exemption under this section, an individual

 

described in subsection (1)(a), (b), or (c), or his or her legal

 

designee, shall annually file with the local tax collecting unit in

 

which the property is located an affidavit showing on a form

 

prescribed by the state tax commission describing the real property

 

for which the exemption is claimed and attesting to the facts

 

required by this section and a description of the real property

 

shall be filed by the property owner or his or her legal designee

 

with the supervisor or other assessing officer during the period

 

beginning with the tax day for each year and ending at the time of

 

the final adjournment of the local board of review. subsection (1)

 

as of the date that the affidavit is signed. The affidavit shall be

 

filed on or before June 1 to claim the exemption for the

 

immediately succeeding summer and winter tax levies or on or before

 

November 1 to claim the exemption for the immediately succeeding

 

winter tax levy. Notwithstanding the tax day provided in section 2,

 

the status of property as exempt under this section shall be

 

determined on the date the affidavit claiming an exemption is

 

filed. The affidavit when filed shall be open to inspection. The

 

county treasurer shall cancel taxes subject to collection under

 

this act for any year in which a disabled veteran eligible for the

 

exemption under this section has acquired title to real property

 

exempt under this section. Upon granting the exemption under this

 

section, each local taxing unit shall bear the loss of its portion

 

of the taxes upon which the exemption has been granted.

 

     (2) If a disabled veteran who is otherwise eligible for the

 

exemption under this section dies, either before or after the

 

exemption under this section is granted, the exemption shall remain

 

available to or shall continue for his or her unremarried surviving

 

spouse. The surviving spouse shall comply with the requirements of

 

subsection (1) and shall indicate on the affidavit that he or she

 

is the surviving spouse of a disabled veteran entitled to the

 

exemption under this section. The exemption shall continue as long

 

as the surviving spouse remains unremarried.

 

     (3) After the affidavit is filed, the assessor for the local

 

tax collecting unit shall determine whether the requirements of

 

this section are met. If the requirements are met, the assessor

 

shall grant the exemption. If granted, the exemption applies until

 

December 31 of the year that the affidavit was filed.

 

     (4) The exemption provided under this section applies only to

 

taxes collected under this act and not to any special assessment

 

unless the act providing for the special assessment provides

 

otherwise.

 

     (5) If the total amount of all taxes collected by a local tax

 

collecting unit is reduced in excess of 5% by exemptions granted

 

under this section, the state shall, upon appropriation, provide

 

reimbursement in an amount equal to that excess.

 

     (6) (3) As used in this section: , "disabled

 

     (a) "Agricultural real property" means that term as defined in

 

section 34c.

 

     (b) "Armed forces of the United States" means the armed forces

 

of the United States and their reserve components.

 

     (c) "Deceased Michigan veteran" means an individual who,

 

immediately before death, served in the armed forces of the United

 

States and was a legal resident of this state.

 

     (d) "Disabled veteran" means a person who is a legal resident

 

of this state and who meets 1 of the following criteria:

 

     (i) (a) Has been determined by the United States department of

 

veterans affairs Department of Veterans Affairs to be permanently

 

and totally disabled as a result of military service and entitled

 

to veterans' benefits at the 100% rate.

 

     (ii) (b) Has a certificate from the United States veterans'

 

administration, Veterans Administration, or its successors,

 

certifying that he or she is receiving or has received pecuniary

 

assistance due to disability for specially adapted housing.

 

     (iii) (c) Has been rated by the United States department of

 

veterans affairs Department of Veterans Affairs as individually

 

unemployable.

 

     (e) "Homestead" means the 1 place owned and occupied by a

 

legal resident of this state as his or her true, fixed, and

 

permanent home to which, whenever absent, he or she intends to

 

return and that shall continue as a primary residence until another

 

primary residence is established. Except as otherwise provided in

 

this subdivision, homestead includes only that portion of a

 

dwelling or unit in a multiple-unit dwelling that would be subject

 

to ad valorem taxes absent the exemption under this section and

 

that is owned and occupied by an owner of the dwelling or unit.

 

Homestead also includes all of an owner's unoccupied property

 

classified as residential real property or agricultural real

 

property that is adjoining or contiguous to the dwelling, that

 

would be subject to ad valorem taxes absent the exemption under

 

this section, and that is owned and occupied by the owner.

 

Contiguity is not broken by boundary between local tax collecting

 

units, a road, a right-of-way, or property purchased or taken under

 

condemnation proceedings by a public utility for power transmission

 

lines if the 2 parcels separated by the purchased or condemned

 

property were a single parcel prior to the sale or condemnation.

 

Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, homestead also

 

includes any portion of a dwelling or unit of an owner that is

 

rented or leased to another person as a residence as long as that

 

portion of the dwelling or unit that is rented or leased is less

 

than 50% of the total square footage of living space in that

 

dwelling or unit. For purposes of this subdivision, property

 

previously occupied as a homestead by an individual who now resides

 

in a nursing home or assisted living facility remains that

 

individual's homestead if he or she manifests an intent to return

 

to that property by satisfying all of the following conditions:

 

     (i) He or she continues to own that property while residing in

 

the nursing home or assisted living facility.

 

     (ii) He or she has not established a new homestead.

 

     (iii) He or she maintains or provides for the maintenance of

 

that property while residing in the nursing home or assisted living

 

facility.

 

     (iv) That property is not occupied, is not leased, and is not

 

used for any business or commercial purpose.

 

     (f) "Own" means any of the following:

 

     (i) Sole ownership by a disabled veteran.

 

     (ii) Joint ownership or co-ownership by a disabled veteran and

 

1 or more of the following individuals:

 

     (A) His or her spouse, including as tenants by the entirety.

 

     (B) His or her son, daughter, adopted son, or adopted

 

daughter.

 

     (iii) Sole ownership by an unremarried surviving spouse of a

 

deceased disabled veteran or a deceased Michigan veteran who died

 

from service-connected causes while on active duty in the armed

 

forces of the United States.

 

     (g) "Residential real property" means that term as defined in

 

section 34c.

 

     (h) "Unremarried surviving spouse" means either of the

 

following:

 

     (i) An individual who was married to a disabled veteran when

 

that veteran died and who, since the time of that spouse's death,

 

has never been remarried.

 

     (ii) An individual who was married to a deceased Michigan

 

veteran when that veteran died from service-connected causes while

 

on active duty in the armed forces of the United States and who,

 

since the time of that spouse's death, has never been remarried.